Oakland first California city to get Smart Boot

PARKING

Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Friday, November 13, 2009

Photo: Courtesy Pay Lock

Image 1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

This undated handout image by a company named Pay Lock shows an example of a "smart boot." Oakland is the first city in California to use Smart Boots, which can be released by the car's owner after paying unpaid tickets over the phone. less

This undated handout image by a company named Pay Lock shows an example of a "smart boot." Oakland is the first city in California to use Smart Boots, which can be released by the car's owner after paying ... more

Photo: Courtesy Pay Lock

Oakland first California city to get Smart Boot

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

Oakland will become the first city in California to use a tire boot that parking scofflaws can unlock themselves - if they immediately pay the fine.

Oakland parking officers will begin affixing the Smart Boot to the tires of the city's worst parking offenders starting Monday.

The device is smaller and lighter than a regular boot and can be released when the unlucky motorists pay their overdue tickets - plus a $140 processing fee - via credit card or check through a 24-hour hot line.

After paying the tickets, the motorist gets a six-digit code to enter on a keypad on the boot, and voila, the boot unlocks. The motorist then has 24 hours to return the 16-pound boot to either of two locations in Oakland or incur a $25-per-day charge on his or her credit card.

"You know, it's expensive, but it beats being towed," said Chad Collins, vice president of Pay Lock, the company that makes Smart Boot and runs the payment center.

The city, which has 90 Smart Boots, will tow the car if the owner doesn't remove the boot within 24 hours.

Smart Boot was invented in 2005 and is used in Baltimore, New Orleans, Syracuse, N.Y., Wilmington, Del., and other cities. Pay Lock says it has done more than 100,000 boot-removal transactions since the program started, Collins said.

The goal is to encourage motorists to pay their parking tickets or ideally not accrue them at all, city officials said.

"We consider parking space a valuable commodity in this city," said Deputy Police Chief David Kozicki. "We want people to come here to shop, eat out, enjoy themselves. So we're doing a number of things to clear up parking spaces."

The city recently raised parking meter rates and, after a public revolt, rolled back meter enforcement from 8 p.m. to 6 p.m. The city has also relaxed enforcement of street sweeping parking violations and is cracking down on misuse of disabled parking placards.

Until now, those who found a boot on their cars had to visit four places, including the tow yard, to pay off their tickets and reclaim their vehicles. The towing and storage fees were at least $260, an expense that will be avoided with Smart Boot - though replaced with the $140 fee.

Oakland officials said they have about 68,000 cars that have accrued five or more unpaid tickets, which makes them eligible for the boot.

City officials hope that the ease of the Smart Boot will encourage more people to pay off their tickets, generating about $800,000 a year for the city, instead of abandoning their cars at the tow yard, as many discouraged motorists do now.

Representatives from B&B Vehicle Processing, which is halfway through a five-year, $8 million towing contract with the city, were not available for comment Thursday.

Kozicki said B&B will not be greatly affected because the number of towed cars might actually increase, due to the higher number of boots.

The city now has boots but police rarely use them because the older models are heavy and cumbersome, Kozicki said. Usually cars are towed instead of booted.

The Smart Boot program is free to the city. Pay Lock earns money by charging $140 per transaction and has given the city the boots as well as three police vans affixed with cameras that recognize license plates and alert officers if a car has been stolen, is boot-eligible or is otherwise wanted.

Oakland already has nine of the license plate-recognition cameras, which have led to a double-digit reduction in auto thefts, Kozicki said.

Oakland has a three-year contract with Pay Lock with two one-year extensions.

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.